A suction nozzle picks up and holds an electronic component during work of mounting electronic components on a circuit board. A suction nozzle is configured such that, when the tip section of the suction nozzle contacts an electronic component, and when mounting a held electronic component on a circuit board, the suction tube and pipe of the suction nozzle move relative to each other so as to make the load applied on the electronic component small. However, there is a problem in that if the load that arises when the suction tube and pipe move relative to each other (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “nozzle load”) becomes too large due to aging and so on of the suction tube, it is not possible to perform mounting work appropriately. Thus, measurement of the nozzle load is performed regularly, and suction nozzles for which the measured load exceeds a specified load are collected in a collection box or the like. In the patent literature below, an example is disclosed of a load measurement method for measuring nozzle load in which a load sensor such as a load cell is used.
Patent Literature 1: JP A 2006-108384